Ferdinand de Lesseps' dream-a short
cut to the Far East-came true in November
1869, with the opening of the Suez Canal
(above). The French diplomat (right)spear
headed the project "to break down the bar
riers which still divide men, races, and
nations." Gaining the permission of Egypt's
ruling pasha in 1854, he formed an interna
tional company and employed as many as
25,000 Egyptians to dig out a total of
97,000,000 cubic yards of earth.
At the ceremonial opening, Empress
Eugenie of France and other royal guests
watched as Christian and Moslem leaders
blessed the venture (far right). The next
day they boarded a fleet for the inaugural
passage, "acclaimed by teeming multitudes."
De Lesseps saw Suez as "an everlasting
source of wealth for Egypt!" In 1956 the
late Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the
canal, and for a decade its tolls, as much as
$227,000,000 a year, provided a major part
of Egypt's foreign exchange.
National Geographic,June 1975
802